Cunningham Slough Floodplain July 2011

Fish Use in Other Lakes and Habitats: Main Stem and Tidal Floodplain Habitats in

the Upper Columbia River Estuary

• Reach F Surveys 2011-13 • Salmon stock composition in main-stem

and backwater habitats • Effects of river flow on fish access to off-

channel areas?

Outline

• Bimonthly, up to 30 samples/site

• 3 habitats/reach (C-H): --trib. confluence --backwater --main stem

Genetic Stock Distribution Survey March 2010 - March 2012

A C D E F G H Reach

Sept / Nov fingerlings

January fry

January yearlings

March fry

March yearlings

May fry

May fingerlings

July fry

July fingerlings

Coastal Rogue Snake spring/summer Snake fall Upper CR summer/fall Mid & Upper CR spring Deschutes fall Spring Creek Group fall Willamette spring West Cascade spring West Cascade fall

Chinook Stock Compositions by Month

and Life History, 2010-11

Unpublished data D. Teel

Fry ≤ 60mm

Fingerling > 60mm

Yearling by size and month

MuC -Upper MuC -lower

Modified Trapnet Floodplain

Sampling

May 17, 2013

25.2 ft. (Bonneville gauge) 9 ft (Vancouver gauge)

Fork Length (mm)

Wei

ght

(gra

ms)

Chinook Salmon Use of

the Tidal Floodplain

Fork Length (mm)

Sam

ple

Siz

e (N

)

Cunningham Slough

Reach E – Main stem & back side

Cunningham Sl. July 2011

2012 Reach F

Sampling Sites

Monthly sampling year round

- Lower Main Stem (beach seine)

- Lower Multnomah (beach seine, trapnet)

- Upper Main Stem (beach seine)

- Upper Multnomah (beach seine, trapnet)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Sto

ck C

ompo

sitio

n (%

)

2012 Monthly Stock Composition Reach F

WR_Sp

WC_Sp

WC_F

UCR_Su/F

Snake_Sp

Snake_F

SCG_F

ROGUE

MCR&UCR_Sp

Desch_F

coast

(N) 16 65 42 249 230 181 88 1 6 3 34 37

• Strong seasonal signal in stock composition • Catches low after July

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Lower MainStem

LowerMultnomah

UpperMultnomah

Upper MainStem

To

tal

Cap

ture

d

2012 Stock Composition by Reach F Location

WR_SpWC_SpWC_FUCR_Su/FSnake_SpSnake_FSCG_FROGUEMCR&UCR_SpDesch_Fcoast

• Stock composition generally similar in main stem and Multnomah Channel backwater sites

• Fish densities seem higher at main stem sites

OSU Electrofishing: Upper

Multnomah Channel

May 16, 2013

Mult. Chan.Upper

Mult. Chan.Lower

CRMain Stem

LowerMult. Chan.

UpperMult. Chan.

Lower

CRMain Stem

LowerSalmon 20 34* 124 14 22** 115Stickleback 74 109 245 14 182 2Peamouth 1 1 1Cyprinidae 13N. pickeminnow 3Banded killifish 2 1Common carp 2Largescale sucker 18 5 5 1Yellow perch 5 2 4 24 1Golden shiner 2 1Pumpkinseed 1 1Starry flounder 1 11 3Prickly sculpin 5 1 5Amur goby 2Smallmouth bass 2 1Goldfish 1Black crappie 1 1Oriental weather fish 1

* All but one salmon caught outside Cunningham Sl. ** 15 of these hatchery coho

2013 Species Composition:

Test Electroshocking and Main Stem Beach Seine

April May

Spring

winter

Peak flows that inundate the tidal floodplain occur

primarily in the spring, occasionally in winter

Reconnaissance Surveys Multnomah Channel Area 2011

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

flood stageVancouver WA

Van

couv

er, W

A D

aily

Mea

n G

auge

Hei

ght (

ft)

Bonneville D

am D

aily Mean D

ischarge (kcfs)

26 Apr

1July

6 Sept

(15/133)

(92/684)

(0/58)

Juvenile Salmon Catch and River Flows

(Lower Multnomah/Lower Main Stem)

1/0

32/85

24/344 5/86

0/30

• Salmon catches in back-channel areas generally less than along main stem sites

• Back water catches increase during some high flow events (but not all?)

Habitat vs. System Controls: Are fish distributed to off-channel habitats by high flows?

34/124

Electrofishing only

22/115

Catch LMC/LMS

0/≤5

April 20, 1050 24 ft 290,700 cfs

25 May, 1110 25.6 ft 366,300 cfs

16 March, 1050 19 ft 219,800 cfs

21 August 1015 14.7 ft 182,600 cfs

13 September, 1410 9.7 ft 108,400 cfs

17 October, 1200 9.2 ft 84,900 cfs

309,400 cfs

A Few Conclusions • No one method can effectively sample the range of

conditions and habitats in Reach F • River flows may determine whether fish from the

main stem are likely to enter back-water habitats • The tidal floodplain is primarily accessible during

peak spring floods • The timing of seasonally high flows relative to stock

migrations may determine which stocks/life history types can access back-water habitats

• Non-native species are more prevalent in backwater than in main-stem areas of the upper estuary but their interactions with salmon are not well known